MVS mini cab upgrades..

So despite the flaming and general negativity surrounding my little project, I am happy to say, that I have finished swapping out the little crappy 13" CRT that came stock in my MVS mini cab.

Before:


After:


Install photos:
I cut a small square wooden dowel to sit the monitor on in order to center it vertically.


Since the converter has all different kinds of settings that can be adjusted on the fly, I mounted it below the CP for easy access.


There were people who tried to discouraged me from the install, by saying mounting the monitor would be difficult. Once I got it inside it fit PERFECTLY! In front of the piece of plywood where the CRT used to sit, there is a gap that the monitor slid right into. It is kept from falling forward by the strips of wood used to hold the front glass in place. I really didn't even need to secure it, it was wedge in there. I just bought a few hurricane ankers(Florida haha), but only ended up using one, keeping the monitor from leaning backwards. There is barely 1/8" on each side, crazy!




Running at 1024 x 768



All I have to do know is get a piece of foamcore, cut it to frame the monitor and cover the bezel and opening and I can call this one complete.

what size and native res is the monitor?

have you noticed any image issues using the converter? what resolutions does it support? any like movement or ghosting or interlacing issues?

Ouch, sorry man, but you just raped the little 13" mini red that's a fairly uncommon cab. Neo Geo on an LCD will always look MAMEd.

I have a stock 13" CRT on mine that was recapped and it looks amazing. With 13" you literally can't make out any flaws with hardware. The sprites look like some of the best 2-D art to ever make it out during the 16 bit era.

not sonic said:

what size and native res is the monitor?

have you noticed any image issues using the converter? what resolutions does it support? any like movement or ghosting or interlacing issues?

Click to expand...

It's a Samsung SAMSUNG 215TW

Native res 1680 x 1050(16:10)
Brightness 300 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio 1000:1
Response Time 8ms

No image issues whatsoever.
Converter supports 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 and 1360x768(weird)
No ghosting, lag, interlacing, jitters, nothing
After testing it on several resolutions and on several games, I have it running at 1024 widescreen, sure the image is stretched, but it's hardly noticeably.

I noticed that the chips on the converter are Samsung, cant go wrong with them.

Couldn't be happier with how this turned out.

Looks a bit too bright dude.

sWIRLEE said:

It's a Samsung SAMSUNG 215TW

Native res 1680 x 1050(16:10)
Brightness 300 cd/m2
Contrast Ratio 1000:1
Response Time 8ms

No image issues whatsoever.
Converter supports 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 and 1360x768(weird)
No ghosting, lag, interlacing, jitters, nothing
After testing it on several resolutions and on several games, I have it running at 1024 widescreen, sure the image is stretched, but it's hardly noticeably.

I noticed that the chips on the converter are Samsung, cant go wrong with them.

Couldn't be happier with how this turned out.

Click to expand...

cool. i wonder if you mightve been better off hunting down a 1024x768 native res lcd. then again when they made those, lcds were pretty bad. still wouldve tried a 4:3 or 5:4 over a 16:10. not as bad as 16:9 though.

1360x768 is a really common resolution used for most 16:9 lcds. nearly every tv marketed as 720p is actually 1366x768. part of the reason why 1080p sets look so much better, no scaling is going on. but thats a different issue.

im interested in trying out an lcd in a few of my cabs, especially the high res stuff like naomi, but im hesitant because of bezel fitment issues and cost, etc. i dont think anyone makes a 29" 4:3 lcd. but its good to know the image quality of the converter is up to part.

its a shame that the build quality of arcade crts has always been questionable. never had a tv that needed a new flyback or cap kit.

Kiselgof said:

Ouch, sorry man, but you just raped the little 13" mini red that's a fairly uncommon cab. Neo Geo on an LCD will always look MAMEd.

I have a stock 13" CRT on mine that was recapped and it looks amazing. With 13" you literally can't make out any flaws with hardware. The sprites look like some of the best 2-D art to ever make it out during the 16 bit era.

Click to expand...

I'll have to disagree with you there. The monitor that came in my cab was from an old Galaga machine and had pretty horrible burn in. Sure I could buy a new one, or I could stick the LCD that was collecting dust in my closet for free. People are buying bigger TVs now a days, not smaller. It just made sense.

Other than my screenshots you have no real point of reference for how it looks/plays. It looks great up close. People are running modded AES and MVS Superguns through component and hooking them up to LCDs and everyone seems to be okay with that.. I essentially did the same thing just within the confines of a Neo Cab.

I have so much more visual control over the game with the monitor and converters adjustment options.

Xian Xi said:

Looks a bit too bright dude.

Click to expand...

Agreed, I haven't sat down and adjusted the monitors settings yet. It's still setup from the last time it was connected to a PC.

not sonic said:

cool. i wonder if you mightve been better off hunting down a 1024x768 native res lcd. then again when they made those, lcds were pretty bad. still wouldve tried a 4:3 or 5:4 over a 16:10. not as bad as 16:9 though.

Click to expand...

Perhaps, but the problem there is getting bezel measurements. People selling LCDs on craigslist and eBay all day long but hunting down and asking for measurements is a pain. The monitor I had on hand fist so perfectly and I can always tell it to run 4:3 if I wanted rather than stretched.

sWIRLEE said:

I'll have to disagree with you there. The monitor that came in my cab was from an old Galaga machine and had pretty horrible burn in. Sure I could buy a new one, or I could stick the LCD that was collecting dust in my closet for free. People are buying bigger TVs now a days, not smaller. It just made sense.

Other than my screenshots you have no real point of reference for how it looks/plays. It looks great up close. People are running modded AES and MVS Superguns through component and hooking them up to LCDs and everyone seems to be okay with that.. I essentially did the same thing just within the confines of a Neo Cab.

I have so much more visual control over the game with the monitor and converters adjustment options.

Click to expand...

I think people just wanted you to keep the integrity of the Cab. Anyone who owns a modded AES...and wants an unmodded...can easily find one...these cabs are hard to come by. Having a bigger TV and superguns, etc...is irrelevant. Don't get your chonies in a bunch...but I have to agree...you messed up that cab.

zapatistab said:

I think people just wanted you to keep the integrity of the Cab. Anyone who owns a modded AES...and wants an unmodded...can easily find one...these cabs are hard to come by. Having a bigger TV and superguns, etc...is irrelevant. Don't get your chonies in a bunch...but I have to agree...you messed up that cab.

Click to expand...

Everything I did is 110% reversible. CRT is wrapped in plastic and box away. If I wanted to it could be back in stock form in a few hours. No biggy...

Looks great. Good work!

The only thing that kills me is 16:9 stretched. The games were not made to be stretched in any way. 4:3 or nothing. If it was my cab, I'd cut the foam core to a 4:3 shape to cover any "black bar" effect. Talking about how nice an LCD looks is negated by warped graphics IMO.

zapatistab said:

I think people just wanted you to keep the integrity of the Cab. Anyone who owns a modded AES...and wants an unmodded...can easily find one...these cabs are hard to come by. Having a bigger TV and superguns, etc...is irrelevant. Don't get your chonies in a bunch...but I have to agree...you messed up that cab.

Click to expand...

get your panties out of a bunch, gramps. lcds are the wave of the future. I have about 25 dedicated cabs and every single one I've replaced with lcds. who needs tri-res monitors when you can get ones that do 1080p? Ive also painted them all to match so it looks really badass. and to make them look even more uniform I trashed the control panels and replaced them all with x-arcades. only thing left is to replace the original hardware with something more reliable like a pc and were good to go.

madman said:

The only thing that kills me is 16:9 stretched. The games were not made to be stretched in any way. 4:3 or nothing. If it was my cab, I'd cut the foam core to a 4:3 shape to cover any "black bar" effect. Talking about how nice an LCD looks is negated by warped graphics IMO.

Click to expand...

truth be told the pixel aspect ratio of a vast majority of the games we play output closer to 16:9 than 4:3. CPS1/2 is almost dead on.

partypooper said:

truth be told the pixel aspect ratio of a vast majority of the games we play output closer to 16:9 than 4:3. CPS1/2 is almost dead on.

Click to expand...

Wrong.

madman said:

Wrong.

Click to expand...

cps1/2 PAR 12:7
neogeo 10:7

12:7 /=/ 4:3
10:7 /=/ 4:3

right.

madman said:

The only thing that kills me is 16:9 stretched. The games were not made to be stretched in any way. 4:3 or nothing. If it was my cab, I'd cut the foam core to a 4:3 shape to cover any "black bar" effect. Talking about how nice an LCD looks is negated by warped graphics IMO.

Click to expand...

I thought about cutting the foamcore to 4:3 as mentioned... but honestly if you didn't know that Neo Geo games were presented in 4:3 and you walked up and started playing or watched a bit of gameplay on almost any game, you wouldn't think it was stretched. It's because you know its stretched is why it bothers you.

that looks like pixelated shit. You should have stuck with the 13"

i'm normally one to say "it's your stuff, do with it whatever" but i must thank you for convincing me to repair the crt in my candy cab isntead of going lcd...that just looks bad

and not bad in a "color me bad" kinda way, bad as in bad bad

partypooper said:

neogeo 10:7

Click to expand...

Yep, you're right, NG is about 10:7 which is roughly 1.43:1.

16:9 = 1.78:1
4:3 = 1.33:1

1.43 - 1.33 = .10
1.78 - 1.43 = .35

Therefore, the NG is closer to 4:3 than 16:9.

In any event, when the games were being designed, they were being designed for a 4:3 display.

SamuraiShodownSensei said:

that looks like pixelated shit. You should have stuck with the 13"

Click to expand...

Yeah man, that looks fantastically pixelated. No thanks.

Outside of the monitor, the cab looks fantastic. The CP looks nice, and I like the brushed metal look (although I know some here disagree).

Get a refurbed 13 and call it a day!

With that said, I applaud you for sticking to your guns. If you like it, that's what matters.

Well, as long as you're happy with the work, enjoy the games on your new monitor.

Well I applaud you for not doing anything to the cab that isn't reversible. Still, I don't see how that is better than a 13" crt, but I suppose to each his own.

Nice cab, Neo Geo is meant to be played on CRT though, but it does not look too bad and after all it is reversible. So enjoy your cab, man!